Live's Genre:

Biography

Live rose to success on the strength of its anthemic music and idealistic, overtly spiritual songwriting, two hallmarks that earned the group frequent comparisons to U2. The group's roots stretched back to the early '80s, when future members Chad Taylor (guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass), and Chad Gracey (drums) began playing together under the name "First Aid" while attending middle school in York, Pennsylvania. After losing an area talent contest, they decided to enlist singer Ed Kowalczyk, and as a foursome the group played under a series of names before settling on Public Affection. After earning a rabid local following, Public Affection released a cassette, 1989's The Death of a Dictionary, on their own Action Front label. Shows at CBGB's and other famed New York clubs followed, eventually earning them a demo deal with Giant Records which proved unsuccessful. The completed demo did earn them a deal with Radioactive, however, and before drawing their new name out of a hat, Live recruited Talking Head Jerry Harrison to produce their 1991 debut, Mental Jewelry. A collection of songs based on the writings of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, the record made Live one of the key players in the post-Nirvana alternative music scene thanks to singles like "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" and "Pain Lies on the Riverside." Three years later, Live returned with the muscular Throwing Copper, which lingered a number of months on the charts before pushing the group into the rock mainstream. After a series of popular singles like "Selling the Drama" and "I Alone," the album's slow build climaxed with the funereal "Lightning Crashes," which propelled the album to the top of the charts and paved the way for the subsequent hits "White, Discussion" and "All Over You." The album went on to sell over eight million copies in the U.S. alone. Secret Samadhi, the third Live LP, followed in early 1997, and while it failed to match the commercial success of Throwing Copper, it nevertheless sold over two million copies.Released in 1999, The Distance to Here went platinum on the strength of "The Dolphin's Cry," which peaked at number two on the Mainstream Rock singles chart. The bandmates continued to refine their ambitious, spiritual sound over the next four years, with both 2001's V and 2003's Birds of Pray cracking the Billboard Top 30 as a result. However, the band's seventh studio effort, Songs from Black Mountain, effectively spelled the end of Live's popularity in 2006, with less than 100,000 copies sold in America. The album fared considerably better overseas, prompting Live to devote more time touring Europe during the decade's latter half.In mid-2009, the band decided to go on hiatus. Kowalczyk recorded a solo album, Alive, while Taylor, Dahlheimer, and Gracey formed a new band, the Gracious Few, with Kevin Martin and Sean Hennesy from Candlebox. (Their first album, The Gracious Few, appeared in 2010.) By that time, it was revealed that Kowalczyk had decided to exit the band, and legal squabbles ensued. In 2012, the original trio of Taylor, Dahlheimer, and Gracey had launched a new version of Live, recruiting vocalist Chris Shinn (formerly of Unified Theory) to be Kowalczyk's replacement. The first album to feature the new lineup, The Turn, appeared in late 2014, preceded by the single "The Way Around Is Through." ~ Jason Ankeny & John Bush

AOL Radio Stations Live is Featured on (10)

Ten years of Rock. Spanning all things rock in the 90s. From Metal to Grunge, Seattle to NYC, 90's Rock has it. The hits by Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Metallica are all here. Plus deep cuts from Alice In Chains, Faith No More, and Rage Against the Machine. If it rocked in the 90's, it's here on 90's Rock.

Rock Ballads will take you back to the days of big hair and big love ballads. Raise your lighters in the air, grab the one you love, and find your own “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”. Big Rock Ballads on Slacker Radio features all the best balladeers from the 70’s and 80’s like Journey, Foreigner, and Aerosmith.

90's Alternative highlights one of the most profound decades of Alternative Music. You'll hear the powerhouse artists of the Seattle grunge movement including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and the Screaming Trees. You'll also get a heaping helping of non-Northwest classics like Stone Temple Pilots, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sublime as well as recalling the Punk resurgence with classics like Green Day's "Dookie" or the Offspring's "Smash" and the offbeat sounds of The Flaming Lips, Beck and Cake.

The '00s were a time of great change for Alternative music. The authenticity of Grunge gave way to the anger of Nu-Metal. Bands like Blink-182, Incubus, and 311 found themselves as the elder statesmen of the genre, and we were introduced to new bands like The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie, and the White Stripes. And let's not forget our brief fling with all things Emo- via bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. You'll hear it all on 00's Alternative station.

We went through the Slacker library and found great songs that made their mark on the world, but have faded away in time. Great Songs You Forgot on Slacker Radio includes forgotten gems from Radiohead, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart and many more.

Are you nostalgic for flannel shirts, girl power, and the days when Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were an item? Jennifer White, your '90s Hits host, takes you back with all your favorite rock, pop, hip hop and alternative songs that made the '90s hella sweet!

Call it "Alternative," "Modern Rock," "College Rock" - call it whatever you like. Classic Alternative is all of those things and more- from the golden age of Alternative. Spanning various decades, this is radio for people that were raised on 120 Minutes. David Bowie, The Clash, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, INXS, Midnight Oil, R.E.M., The Pixies, Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Weezer, and many more!

Original outlaw Johnny Cash has sold more than 80 million records and is a member of the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. Slacker celebrates Johnny’s legacy with this collection of songs from his contemporaries and collaborators, as well as his deep cuts and biggest hits. This is Johnny Cash: DNA.

Artists Related to Live (10)

Primarily known for their post-grunge blockbuster hit "The Freshmen," the Verve Pipe formed in 1992 in Lansing, Michigan, where frontman Brian Vander Ark pieced his group together from the ashes of two local bands.

Within the alternative world, Seven Mary Three have often been compared to the mainstream-sounding, garage/arena rock of post-Ten Pearl Jam, but the group insists that their refusal to alienate themselves from the rest of the world makes them different.

Along with such similarly styled outfits as the Goo Goo Dolls, the New Orleans-based trio Better Than Ezra helped open the floodgates for countless alt-pop acts of the late '90s (including Semisonic, Matchbox Twenty, and Third Eye Blind) by merging college rock influences with mainstream aspirations.

Few bands have had a more complicated relationship with commercial success than Soul Asylum. In the 1980s, they lurked in the shadows of the Minneapolis alternative rock scene, then dominated by the Replacements and Hüsker Dü, and their first tenure on a major label ended with the band being unceremoniously dropped after their expected commercial breakthrough was both a critical and a sales disappointment.

Candlebox rode the grunge bandwagon to multi-platinum success in the early '90s, despite howls of protest from the Seattle faithful who considered their music a watered-down version of the genuine article.